Video games and video game systems have become even more popular due to the marketing toward, and resulting participation from, casual gamers. Conventional video game devices or controllers use visual and auditory cues to provide feedback to a user. In some interface devices, kinesthetic feedback (such as active and resistive force feedback) and/or tactile feedback (such as vibration, texture, and heat) is also provided to the user, more generally known collectively as “haptic feedback” or “haptic effects”. Haptic feedback can provide cues that enhance and simplify the user interface. Specifically, vibration effects, or vibrotactile haptic effects, may be useful in providing cues to users of electronic devices to alert the user to specific events, or provide realistic feedback to create greater sensory immersion within a simulated or virtual environment.
Other devices, such as medical devices, automotive controls, remote controls, and other similar devices wherein a user interacts with a user input element to cause an action also benefit from haptic feedback or haptic effects. For example, and not by way of limitation, user input elements on medical devices may be operated by a user outside the body of a patient at a proximal portion of a medical device to cause an action within the patient's body at a distal end of the medical device. Haptic feedback or haptic effects may be employed devices to alert the user to specific events, or provide realistic feedback to user regarding interaction of the medical device with the patient at the distal end of the medical device.
Conventional haptic feedback systems for gaming, virtual reality, and other devices generally include one or more actuators attached to or contained within the housing of the controller/peripheral for generating the haptic feedback. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,106,305 to Rosenberg, assigned to Immersion Corporation and herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, discloses a haptic feedback keyboard device for providing haptic feedback to a user for enhancing interactions in a displayed environment provided by a computer. The haptic keyboard device can be a keyboard having multiple keys, or can be a wrist rest or other attachment coupled to a keyboard. An actuator is coupled to a housing of the device that is physically contacted by the user and applies a force to the housing such that the force is transmitted to the user contacting the housing.
Embodiments hereof relate to a haptic feedback system that provides improved haptic feedback or effects to a user input element of a haptic peripheral, such as but not limited to a keyboard, gamepad, controller, or other peripheral.